Coyote population saturates Massachusetts

Friday

Once completely foreign to Massachusetts, coyotes have become increasingly common throughout the state, turning up in rural, suburban, and even, urban areas.

Once completely foreign to Massachusetts, coyotes have become increasingly common throughout the state, turning up in rural, suburban, and even, urban areas.

“We’re now pretty well saturated with coyotes in this state,” said Dave Wattles, a biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. “They started to colonize this state in the 1950s, and we’re now seeing the far end of that colonization. We now have coyotes in every mainland town in the state, and in relatively high densities. All available habitat is occupied by coyotes.

While physical encounters with people are uncommon, the topic of coyote attacks in Massachusetts gained new attention in November after a rabid coyote attacked two people in North Attleboro. The Nov. 20 incident represents the eighth and ninth coyote attacks on humans since the 1950s.

Contrary to the popular image of the lone coyote howling at the moon on the open range, coyotes in Massachusetts live in small family packs and have become established in urban and residential communities where they have access to even a small wooded area.

“In general, they do better in suburban and urban areas where there’s more food,” said Jonathan Way, founder of Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research. He opposes the state’s policy of allowing coyotes to be hunted with relatively few restrictions.

In rural and wild areas, coyotes often have to travel farther in search of food. But in urban and residential areas, coyotes may occupy smaller territories and be more densely populated.

Research has shown eastern coyotes, such as those that live in Massachusetts are a hybrid species, genetically distinct from western coyotes. Their DNA profile is roughly 60 percent western coyote, 30 percent wolf and 10 percent dog, Way said.

Due to the distinct genetic profile of a hybrid species, Way prefers to call eastern coyotes “coywolves.”

On average, they weigh 30 to 40 pounds, as compared to the smaller western coyotes, which have an average weight between 25 and 30 pounds.

While coyote attacks on people are rare, they may prey on pet cats and small dogs.

“Coyotes will see small pets as potential prey items,” said Wattles. “It is highly-recommend people do not let their cats outside. The same goes for small dogs. It’s highly-recommend that they are kept on leash and someone is on other end of that leash.”

Territorial animals, coyotes may also perceive a large dog as a threat or competitor to their turf, Wattles said. This might cause coyotes to attack, as well.

“Supervising pets is the main thing for protecting them,” he said. “The presence of human should be enough to discourage coyotes from attacking pets.”

In most cases, people can take steps to keep coyotes away from their yards.

There are two main steps people can take to keep unwanted coyotes away.

“One is removing all food sources,” he said. “The reason coyotes come into backyards is to take advantage of the food that’s there. Doing it on a neighborhood scale will reduce the frequency of these animals. The next step is chasing the animals making loud noises with air horns or pots and pans. Over time, that will reinforce the natural fear they have of people.”

Anther wild canine species has also become more common in recent years. Red and gray foxes are common throughout Massachusetts. Like coyotes, they can be active at any time of day or night.

They are naturally fearful of people, but are also very curious animals, Wattles said.

They may live in urban, suburban or rural areas. They are less of a predatory threat to pets than coyotes, but they may occasionally attack an unsupervised cat or very small dog.

“With both species, the threat toward people extremely minimal,” Wattle said. “But if it’s a rabid animal, the rules go out the window. Rabies is more common in foxes than in coyotes. Anytime anyone sees fox or coyote acting oddly or showing aggression, they should call the local police immediately to get assistance.”